Project proposal
For my RWS 411 project proposal, I would like to talk about the evolution of clickbait and its effects on humans. Some proposed questions I would like to discuss: did it start when technology/social media started? Or was it present in newspapers and journals? I’d like to talk about how clickbait aligns with fake news and how it affects a particular audience. I would analyze websites, social media platforms, mainly concerning celebrities or something of a “shock factor” to a particular audience (Murphy, 1). I would like to talk about how some people are marketed and founded on this idea of clickbait, talking about David Dobrik, a famous Youtuber who’s popular strategy is clickbait (his merch). Does Clickbait have an after effect on an audience? To what extent will people conduct research or stick with what they see? Professor Werry also brought up to mention and discuss the typology of clickbait.
However, I cannot fit all of this into 2-5 minutes of my presentation in the class. So, I am more interested in the history of clickbait and its typology (if it has one or several). I believe that clickbait is a dangerous spin on what every journalist and student has been taught through school: “your title/ opening statement should capture the reader’s attention.”
To discuss this topic and its history my sources (so far) will include BBC’s “Clickbait: The changing face of online journalism,” The Oxford’s English Dictionary of the word “clickbait,” Inc’s “Researchers Studied 1.67 Million Clickbait Headlines. What They Learned Will Completely Shock You,” Ashuta Bhattarai’s You won’t believe how these 9 shocking click baits work! (number 8 is a killer!), and more. It’s really interesting because there are hardly any scholarly journals or articles on clickbait, which means it’s still relatively new and/or studies are going on right now as a premise to these potential peer-reviewed journals.
The origins of “clickbait” reside in the late 1890s by yellow journalists who are “associated newspapers that present little or no legitimate well-researched news while instead using eye-catching headlines for increased sales (Frampton, 1). Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism. By extension, the term yellow journalism is used today as a pejorative to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion.” Of Course, their messages were communicated mainly through the newspaper, this was to drive up the cost, especially in a competition arena between newspaper businesses. Although it was not called clickbait at the time, yellow journalism is its ancestor (Frampton, 2). Now, our clickbait has evolved to be not only on a screen, but it seems normal for those living the technological age as we’re scrolling through social media and the internet. It’s not common to see an advertisement say, “You won $1,00,000,000 click to receive!” In a sense we’re desensitized to it, most of the time knowing it’s fake. However, yellow journalists received intense backlash because of the limited news sources and papers being one of the only means of communication.
According to Ashuta Bhattarai, the nine types of of clickbait include: shocking/amazing/unbelievable results, celebrity gossip, mysterious roles, instances of people’s stupidity on social media, a challenge to your IQ, ‘tricky’ stuff (simple tricks), the fear-inducing stuff, the list with a “jewel” in it, and sports gossip (Bhattarai,1) . However, If it were up to me, I add an extra type which is a political agenda of marketing through advertisements. An example of this would be Facebook pages that are pushing alt-right or alt-left content. In my presentation, I would show these nine through a series of PowerPoint.
I would examine each example of clickbait and relate this through an internal conversation and line of rhetorical questioning of how these affect the audience. Does this make you want to click on it? Why do you or do you not want to click on it? If you usually click on these headlines, do you instantly regret it or find yourself enjoying it?
In the typology of shocking/amazing/unbelievable results, I would put up one that targets weight loss since it’s one that’s most commonly seen. An example headline would be, “This unbelievable fruit can make you lose 20 lbs. In just one week!” In celebrity gossip, I would show one that is of a celebrity that almost all individuals know. It wouldn’t be a good “clickbait” of the audience that doesn’t know who the celebrity is; “Kanye West is Kylie Jenner’s baby daddy!” (Bhattarai, 1).
In the “mysterious roles” clickbait, I would show a picture that is deemed mysterious to the audience such as “guy broke up with girlfriend after he found out what was in this picture.” Usually the pictures look normal to the human eye; for example, it would be a picture of a girl and a tree, nothing that is deemed out of the ordinary. This would make the audience want to click it due to the lack of “obvious” and amplification of mystery and curiosity (Bhattarai, 2).
An example of instances of people’s stupidity on social media would be a tweet of someone saying, “OMG, 2020 is about to be here, I can’t believe the Earth is 2020 years old!”
A challenge to your IQ is an interesting one because I am guilty of usually clicking on these. This can sometimes pose a threat to someone’s intelligence level, often having pictures such as “I bet you can’t guess which is the right answer! 95% of people get this wrong.” However, usually, when I click on it, I would need to sign in or create an account.
“Tricky’ stuff (simple tricks)” is a type of clickbait that usually leans into insecurities on an individual. An example would be “Do this trick and girls wouldn’t be able to resist you!”, “This one trick will make you 10x hotter in 1 week.”(Bhattarai, 3).
“The fear-inducing stuff, the list with a ‘jewel’ in it” is a type of clickbait that forces you to want to click on it because of that hidden “jewel.” For example, the title of this article: “You won’t believe how these 9 shocking click baits work! (number 8 is a killer!)” This clickbait convinces you that you cannot miss whatever #8 has to say. Another example would be “10 reasons you should break up with your boyfriend! #6 IS A KILLER!”( Bhattarai, 3).
“Sports gossip” clickbait consists of dramatic types of sports gossip to affect an audience, especially for sports fanatics. For example, “This is Tom Brady’s secret for winning back to back championship! You won’t believe what he’s been getting away with!” (Bhattarai, 3).
Overall, The evolution of clickbait is well alive in the digital-technological age. It has manifested itself in several ways which include yellow journalism that was predominant in the early 1900s. Merriam-Webster defines clickbait as “something designed to make readers want to click on a hyperlink, especially when the link leads to content of dubious value or interest” (Merriam-Webster, 1). 21st-century humans have become desensitized to clickbait. It’s normal for at least one form of clickbait pop up on a website we’re looking at. In future research of clickbait, I would like to use more substantive articles such as scholarly journals that are peer-reviewed. I would also like to explore how this aligns with the concept of “fake news” as well as go more in-depth how people profit and make a living on clickbait; whether they’re the creators of it, they profit off the numbers of clicks, or if they explicitly call for clickbait. One last thing I would like to explore in the future is, is clickbait ethical? Does it raise any ethical concerns in the digital age?
Works Cited
Bhattarai, Ashuta. “You Won’t Believe How These 9 Shocking Clickbaits Work! (Number 8 Is a Killer!).” Medium, The Zerone, 6 Oct. 2018, https://medium.com/zerone-magazine/you-wont-believe-how-these-9-shocking-clickbaits-work-number-8-is-a-killer-4cb2ceded8b6.
“Clickbait.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clickbait.
Frampton, Ben. “Clickbait: The Changing Face of Online Journalism.” BBC News, BBC, 14 Sept. 2015, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-34213693.
Murphy, Bill Jr,. “Researchers Studied 1.67 Million Clickbait Headlines. What They Learned Will Completely Shock You.” Inc.com, Inc., 22 Mar. 2018, https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/these-researchers-studied-167-million-clickbait-headlines-what-they-found-will-totally-shock-you.html.
“Why Clickbait Works (And Why You Should Do More of It).” Neil Patel, 15 Feb. 2019, https://neilpatel.com/blog/why-clickbait-works/.
